Bethany College Announces 2014 Oreon E. Scott Lectures

BETHANY, W.Va. – Bethany College has announced Dr. Charisse L. Gillett will deliver the 59th annual Oreon E. Scott Lectures to be held April 28-29, 2014, at Bethany’s Mountainside Conference Center.

Gillett is the 17th president of Lexington Theological Seminary, with more than 20 years of successful administrative experience in higher education. Gillett has served at Transylvania University, Midway College, Robert Morris College and the University of Northern Iowa. She holds a doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University.

This year’s lecture series is titled “Sustaining Pastors in Ministry: Key Factors in Clergy Health and Wellness.”

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. April 28, and the first lecture, “Exploring Challenges to Clergy Wellness and Sustainability: Understanding the Ministerial Context,” begins at 9 a.m. The Timothy Luncheon will follow at noon. The second half of Gillett’s lecture, “Developing Habits of Self-care and Family-care,” will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. at Bethany Memorial Church. Rev. Dr. Donald K. Gillett II, Charisse’s husband, will deliver that evening’s sermon, “Embracing Sabbath: Reclaiming Spiritual Wholeness Isaiah 58:13-14,” at 7 p.m. A reception will be held after the service with Bethany College President Dr. Scott D. Miller at Christman Manor at Pendleton Heights.

April 29, Charisse will present her final lecture, “Cultivating Mentors and the Value of Clergy Peer Groups,” from 9 a.m. to noon.

A former moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Charisse has been a commissioned minister of the Christian Church in Kentucky since August 2010 and is associate minister at East Second Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), where her husband serves as senior pastor. She served as Vice President of Administration and Special Projects at the seminary prior to her appointment as president in 2011. She is also a former LTS trustee and officer of the Board of Trustees.

Charisse is deeply committed to the church and the work of the seminary in shaping students for ministry. An energetic and dedicated leader, she works closely with a team of trustees, faculty, staff, students and congregations to grow the seminary’s new program, which is designed to serve the needs of the church while continuing the seminary’s storied history of shaping people for ministry.

The Oreon E. Scott Lectures are funded through the Oreon E. Scott Foundation, which was established to strengthen the Christian Church and support Disciples-related colleges and institutions. Since its founding in 1840 by Alexander Campbell, Bethany has been affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Now in its 58th year, the first Scott Lectures were held on March 1, 1956, with Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger, Harvard University historian, as the lecturer.

To register or for more information on this year’s Oreon E. Scott Lectures, please contact the Office of Church Relations at 304-829-7723 or by email at jpyle@bethanywv.edu.

Bethany College is a small college of national distinction located on a picturesque and historic 1,300-acre campus in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. Founded in 1840, Bethany is the state’s oldest private college.